Economy
Nigerian Exchange Chalks up 0.41% on Renewed Investor Confidence
By Dipo Olowookere
Renewed investor confidence strengthened the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.41 per cent on Tuesday, with the All-Share Index (ASI) rising by 1,005.27 points to 244,304.51 points from 243,299.24 points, and the market capitalisation growing by N652 billion to N158.399 trillion from N157.747 trillion.
During the trading session, investor sentiment was bullish after the bourse finished with 33 price gainers and 26 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index.
NGX Group closed the day as the biggest price gainer after it improved by 9.95 per cent to N179.00. Aradel Holdings expanded by 9.62 per cent to N1550.00, Sovereign Trust Insurance gained 9.50 per cent to trade at N1.96, McNichols appreciated by 9.09 per cent to N4.80, and International Breweries rose by 8.50 per cent to N10.85.
Conversely, Ecobank was the heaviest price loser after it shed 10.00 per cent to quote at N66.60. Trans-Nationwide Express lost 9.93 per cent to finish at N2.45, AVA Capital slumped by 9.90 per cent to N4.55, PZ Cussons crumbled by 9.52 per cent to N75.10, and Prestige Assurance declined by 8.72 per cent to N1.36.
A look at the activity chart showed that the trading volume increased by 21.49 per cent to 521.2 million shares from the previous day’s 429.0 million shares, the trading value surged by 81.95 per cent to N37.3 billion from N20.5 billion, and the number of deals jumped by 31.22 per cent to 71,635 deals from 54,592 deals.
Mutual Benefits was the busiest equity on Tuesday, with a turnover of 39.0 million units valued at N113.4 million, GTCO traded 37.4 million units worth N4.9 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 30.6 million units for N3.9 billion, Fidelity Bank sold 27.8 million units worth N553.2 million, and AXA Mansard exchanged 22.9 million units valued at N271.8 million.
Yesterday, the energy index gained 3.79 per cent, the consumer goods sector appreciated by 1.06 per cent, and the banking segment closed higher by 0.08 per cent. But the industrial goods space depreciated by 0.58 per cent, and the insurance counter shrank by 0.18 per cent.
